Lycanthrope II: Insurgere Imperium
by Aggiepuff
Summary: With the defeat of Quasi by Blossom, Bubbles, Buttercup and their new brother Brio, peace is restored in Townsville once again. Little do they know that the real horror of what is to come is only just beginning... Chapter 8 uploaded! Rated T to be safe.
1. Prologue: Recrudescence

I AM RETURNED! Hopefully you all anticipated some kinda sequel to Lycanthrope.. so here we are (much to your delight, or dismay xD) lol Anyways, hope you like the prologue, hope it makes sense, but if not, thats okay too :P

Happy reading!

Lycanthrope II: Insurgere Imperium

By Hailey T. (Aggiepuff)

Prologue: Recrudescence

* * *

Darkness overtook the steamy jungle as the hot orange sun set on the horizon. Two teenage boys hack through the leafy foliage with their machetes, exploring the uncharted territory of the African Congo.

A green snake's belly glides silently along the tree branch, poisonous frogs war-painted brightly like skeletons sit perched upon wet rocks among the green plants that blanket the ground. Black ants march in line carrying food twice their size to their ravenous queen.

The curious boys hack their way further into the wilderness, their destination unknown, but their eyes wide with wonder.

They come upon a large wall of hanging vines and leafy plants. The first boy slams his machete into the blockage, only to be shaken back when his sword reverberates with a metallic clang. He shouts something over to his friend, who comes running, eyes wide as they clear away the plants while conversing excitedly in their own native language.

They each fall silent however when they discover the hidden mystery to be a door made of solid stone, sealed tightly and engraved with mysterious cryptic symbols. They stand in silence for a moment, before running back towards their village to share their discovery with the world.

* * *

Four quiet shadows move quickly and silently through a darkened room. Working ceaselessly on some unknown devices deep into the night. Forced to work under an iron fist, they have no time for rest. Only with their undiscovered genius can these mysterious creations become reality, and that their plans can finally go underway. Undiscovered, that is, until now.

Their worn hands continue working obliviously in complete silence while their master plans and prepares, anticipating the single greatest evil scheme to befall the earth.

Working all together they will pose the greatest threat to the earth, greater than any conquering force before it had ever even dreamed of.

* * *

Deep in the sewers beneath the deserted wet streets of Townsville, dirty water leftover from the ferocious downpour the evening before drips steadily through the storm drains. The air is damp and thick, and the smell of polluted water hangs heavily in the large empty pipelines. Darkness blankets these lonely, lifeless sewers. An obscure darkness that almost creates an odd sort of life, born from the very shadows itself.

A large black and white puddle floats lazily on top of the sewer water. In its cold and lifeless state it is impossible to believe this was once the greatest threat to our world. Now it lies as nothing more but a helpless mass of chemicals, dead and useless.

The darkness of the empty sewers is broken, however, when a small shadowy figure removes the lid to the manhole, allowing small rays of moonlight escape inside. The small figure hops nimbly inside the sewer, and after a quick search discovers the white and black chemicals floating lifelessly amongst the dark water.

The figure silently scoops the solutions up, and then scurries up out onto the street again, closing the manhole and returning the silent pipes back to their eerie darkness.

* * *

The purple blue colors of approaching dawn illuminate the skyline of the city of Townsville at this same moment in time. The citizens of Townsville sleep peacefully, dreaming their impossible dreams, blissfully unaware of what is about to be born around them.

One sinister plot has been stopped at the hands of brave heros, hand in hand together they have beaten the unbeatable. But the true test of their faith and the bonds that link them together is still just beginning.

A new evil to stop, new bonds to forge, new powers to discover, a new mystery to unlock. A new mission, and a new adventure.

* * *

More soon hopefully! Thanks for readin'


	2. Chapter 1: Resurrection

Here ya go peeps.. the first chapter. This and many other chapters are mostly ready.. I just have tons of schoolwork lately, andI want to make sure these don't suck before posting. I have some major tweaking to do, but in general it shouldn't be ages til the next chapter etc.

Anyways.. less talkie, more ficcie! Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Resurrection

* * *

It was already morning, and the bright orange gleam of the miraculous sunrise began to stretch across sky and reflect off of the crystal glass buildings of Townsville.

Already, an evil plan was underfoot. A sinister mastermind was already scheming atop his observatory lair, a new power at his fingertips.

The small figure walked slowly towards his latest machine, a heap of metal and wires, all feeding energy to a large glass cylinder filled with an eerie dark red substance. Engulfed in this strange chemical was a tall, lanky, shadowy, deformed figure, motionless in its captivity. The figure was deformed in many ways, with pieces of its black and white composition floating aimlessly in the murky goo, its arms and legs having been separated from the torso while its head still remained.

As the short figure stepped into the dim light that peeked through the covered windows, its wild black hair, malicious green face, glowing pink eyes, cold evil grin, flowing purple cape, and mysterious turban came into full view.

Mojo Jojo chuckled as he eyed his latest invention, which he had been working on for weeks after hearing of Quasi's legendary power. He narrowed his eyes and watched the deformed figure floating helplessly inside the machine.

He began slowly walking towards the control panel which monitored the energy levels and vital signs of the creature. At first glance it appeared to be flat-lined, its energy was at zero, and its brain waves showed no sign of conscious thought.

Mojo knew better, however, as he grinned and inspected the monitor closely. One could see a faint jump every few seconds in its pulse, and perhaps a very faint amount of brain activity.

Indeed, whatever was inside was alive, if only a little.

Mojo turned his attention to an electronic power meter on the screen and drummed his fingers impatiently on the console. The meter had barely one percent filled, causing Mojo to grow uneasy.

"How long will this take..," He muttered under his breath.

He turned around, grumbling to himself, and walked towards a large assortment of half-finished machines, gadgets and scattered tools. As he approached he stopped suddenly as he heard the sound of scurrying feet running away from him.

He continued walking at a slower pace, his senses now on high alert. He stopped and surveyed the creations around him and their progress. He growled deep in his throat, lowering his voice to a sinister rumble.

"Why must this go so SLOWLY?" He roared, his last word echoing throughout the silent laboratory. The illusion that his outburst shook the entire room was apparent, for several tools and metal parts seemed to have been dropped to the ground with a sudden clang.

Stunned quiet fell once again over the dimly lit lab, save for the pulsing and humming of the mysterious machine. Mojo turned suddenly, his long cape flapping dramatically behind him, and he began to march back towards the eerie red glow of his machine.

"No matter." He said to no one in particular, "It will all be completed in time."

He walked back towards the control panel and checked the status of the unknown being. Although still frozen at one percent, Mojo's grin grew on his face once again.

"Yes.. In time.." He whispered in a sinister voice, "no time at all.."

* * *

The darkness was softer now and slowly fading away. Soon the blurry image of a blonde haired girl with blue eyes came into view, becoming increasingly clearer by the second.

Blossom's eyes opened slowly as her two sisters watched in anticipation. Still weakened by the battle, she could only squeak out something unintelligible, but it was enough to cause Bubbles and Buttercup to burst into a fit of hysterics.

Brio had already awakened, but was still very weak and was sitting in the nearby recliner, regaining his strength. He smiled a little at his sisters' reactions to Blossom's revival, and only wished he had the energy to be a part of all the excitement.

After a few more minutes Blossom was wide awake and able to hug her sisters, wincing slightly at the wound in her stomach, but otherwise fine. The Professor had been busy clearing up some of the mess caused by Quasi's fight with the girls previously, but barely made a dent in the damage that was done in the Utonium home.

Even though they were each too tired to hardly move, they stayed awake deeper into the night, celebrating their victory together as newly formed brother and sisters.

"To Brio, our savior, friend, and brother!" Bubbles announced as she lifted her bottle of root beer in the air.

"To Brio!" Buttercup and Blossom echoed, while Brio shook his head slowly with a smile.

"Nah.. To Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup.. The greatest and most powerful heros in the world, and even better sisters to boot." Brio croaked softly, grinned and clanked his glass with theirs, and they each sipped the tasty soda greedily.

After a few moments Professor Utonium came into the darkened and still partially demolished living room, a large bowl in hand and a warm smile on his face.

"Girls, the popcorn is ready!" He announced as he set the large bowl on the half standing coffee table.

Brio smiled weakly at him and winked, causing the Professor to laugh nervously at himself.

"Whoops.. Heh heh.. I mean.. Girls and _boy_.. erm.. Kids,"he stuttered while Brio chuckled.

"Don't worry 'bout it pops," he said with a smile.

And with that the children and the Professor began to snack on the popcorn, some of the only food they had left after such a devastating attack by Quasi. At this point, however, they'd eat anything they could get their hands on, and had lost all selfishness and sense of luxuries. They were ecstatic to still see each other alive one more day, much less eat a slightly burned snack together.

After a few more minutes, Professor Utonium yawned and looked at his watch.

"Well kids, it's getting pretty late, I think its best you all get to bed.. Even my very own conquering heros still need their rest."

"Okay, Professor." Bubbles chirped without hesitation as each of the girls zipped upstairs with their corresponding pink, blue, and green streaks.

Once they were out of sight Professor Utonium turned to Brio and smiled.

"I'll make up the bed for you in the guest room downstairs, but tomorrow I'll call a contractor to see if we can remodel my study upstairs into a bedroom, along with repairing the living room."

Brio's eyes lit up and he grinned from ear to ear.

"Really pop? My own room? Wow, thanks!" He grabbed the Professor in a big hug, causing any possible doubts or worries that might still have been troubling their minds to melt away in the warm embrace.

"Well, goodnight Brio.. I hope you sleep well, you deserve it," Professor Utonium smiled and started to head up the stairs.

But he paused for a moment, and turned to Brio again, his eyes beginning to glisten with unshed tears.

"And thank you.. For everything.."

"Sure thing, pops!" Brio grinned and waved goodnight as enthusiastic as always while heading towards the guest room, "Nighty night! Seeya in the morning!"

Professor Utonium let a small laugh escape at the child's eagerness.

"Sleep well.. 'night Brio," he said and continued up the stairs.

Brio left the bedroom door open a crack and listened for the Professor to close the door to his room. Once he heard the door squeak quietly to a close, he slowly crept out of his room and snuck out the front door, quiet as a mouse.

* * *

Many weeks had passed since the tragic battle. Hours of waiting and worry had turned into days and nights and finally weeks. And eventually, the paralyzing fear of Quasi had faded away into almost nothing.

Time had marched on just as it should, and with nothing more to threaten the city of Townsville, the people had restored their lives like normal. Save for the loss of a few unfortunate citizens, and a few irreplaceable sites having been destroyed, the city of Townsville had changed very little since that horrendous event had occurred.

Back in the laboratory of Mojo Jojo, however, the horror was only beginning. What was once thought to be lost forever, was instead very much alive. Ninety-nine percent to be exact.

"Finally..." He said, as he eyed the power meter with glee.

Beads of sweat rolled slowly down his green face as he watched the meter very slowly make its way to full.

"Almost.. there..." He said to himself nervously as he gripped the lever on the control panel tightly.

"NOW!" Mojo squeezed his eyes shut and pulled the lever back with all his might, sending hundreds of thousands of volts of electricity shooting from the cables and into the machine.

An unimaginable light show of bright electric flashes then ensued, creating dancing shadows all around the lab. The lifeless form inside began convulsing and jerking around, the intense energy coursing through its deformed limbs.

Red lights on the control panel suddenly began to flash, however, accompanied by the incessant blaring of an alarm. Mojo panicked and pushed the lever back into its previous position, shutting off the extreme voltage and causing the machine to cool down.

At the sudden impact and release of the electricity, a very definite pulse was now detected, brain waves were very noticeable, and the energy level was at one hundred percent.

Quasi was born once again.

* * *

Dun dun dunnnn.. chapter 2.. eventually xD


	3. Chapter 2: Steel Fusion

Enjoy!

Chapter 2: Steel Fusion

* * *

Quasi's red eyes opened to nothing but thin little slits. He tilted his head upwards, looking around him at his new surroundings while still a captive of Mojo's strange machine.

_Am I ...alive?_ Quasi thought to himself. _But... how? ...how could I have survived..?_

He looked down towards where his body used to be, and was shocked to find only a shapeless torso and his arms and legs having been disintegrated into nothing more than floating blobs of black and white.

Suddenly Mojo's booming voice shook Quasi out of his thoughts, causing him to gasp and his head to jerk upward towards the voice.

"Welcome, my villain brother, its nice to see you again." Mojo announced, while walking closer to Quasi.

After a moment, Quasi finally found his voice, shouting in a haunting growl.

"Who are you! What have you done to me?" He demanded.

Mojo shook his head and stopped walking suddenly, looking up into Quasi's eyes with glee.

"Why, my dearest Quasi, you should be thanking me for saving your life." Mojo grinned even wider. "Only I, Mojo Jojo, possess the technology that could keep a being of chemical X alive from pure energy alone, and now because of me, you are here again, which is to say, the battle against the Powerpuff Girls is far from over."

Quasi's eyes widened at this, an expression of pure shock and surprise on this face. His face quickly resumed its fierce glare, as he stared Mojo down suspiciously.

"What do you want?" Quasi demanded, his voice dripping with venom.

"I want to help you." Mojo said simply. "I went into the sewers once the fight had cleared out to retrieve what was left of your body, Quasi. I then hooked you up to this machine, and by using this special artificial chemical X and electric volts I revived you back to your normal state, which is to say, you are now alive again, as in, you are healed now." Mojo explained.

"I don't need anyone's help." Quasi growled.

"I saved your life, fool. You were nothing but a dead and lifeless chemical and you could not have survived on your own. The Powerpuff girls defeated you. I brought you back."

"No one defeats me." Quasi said in a deep voice, ignorant to Mojo's explanations.

Mojo laughed suddenly, catching Quasi off guard.

"Don't be ridiculous. The Powerpuff Girls beat you just like they have beaten me thousands of times. Those three annoying little brats defeat everybody, and you are no exception. But I have seen what your power can do myself, and I know of a way we can take out our revenge on them."

"I don't need anybody, I can defeat them on my own, stupid monkey." Quasi scowled.

"But I can make you stronger, Quasi."

"Impossible," Quasi spat.

"I have brought you to life again, and I can just as easily take it away."

"What can a smelly little monkey do to me?" Quasi snorted and rolled his eyes.

"This machine is keeping you alive." Mojo explained casually. "You need me."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Well, you don't really have a choice do you?" Mojo said with a chuckle, while motioning towards Quasi's obvious handicap.

Quasi then fell silent for a moment, averting his eyes and mumbling something to himself..

"The red substance you find yourself floating around you is an enhanced artificial chemical X, which is what healed your wounds from the battle." Mojo said.

"You call THIS healed? My arms and legs are missing!" Quasi yelled in protest.

"Yes.. Unfortunately those parts of your body sustained too much damage to be able to reattach themselves as your composition would normally allow, meaning they cannot ever be fully restored to normal. But I have already thought of this possible complication, which is to say I do have a solution." Mojo explained.

"Really. What then?" Quasi asked in a sarcastic and skeptical tone.

"This." Mojo said, while picking up some metal armor from his work desk. "These electronic parts will work in sync with what is left of your original body, bringing you back to your normal state, meaning you will be able to function properly again. Then you can join me in defeating the Powerpuff Girls. Think of it... my brains and your power... we'll be unstoppable!"

"I'll never use your weak weapons!" Quasi shouted. "And I'll never join you!"

"Fair enough then." Mojo said before bringing his hand down upon a large button on the control panel, causing the red chemical to drain from the glass tube.

Quasi fell to the ground weakly, lacking any support in his entire body. He began gasping for air as he felt his energy growing weaker, his life force having been so suddenly cut off. The glass tube opened up, and Mojo walked in and studied Quasi's helpless form.

"Second thoughts?" Mojo inquired.

"I'll never join you." Quasi spat between gasps.

"Fine then, if you choose to die." Mojo just shrugged and stood there in silence, watching Quasi's shaking, gasping, howling and crying form as it slowly became weaker and weaker.

Finally, in a weak, quivering voice, Quasi spoke again.

"O-Okay... I-I'll do it..." Quasi choked out. "Just ..h-h-help me.."

Mojo grinned and wasted no time carrying Quasi's weakened body away from the machine and onto the ground.

In only a few minutes, Mojo had fused Quasi's leftover body parts with the electronic parts, creating a horrible monster of metal and both pure and impure chemical X. He began to laugh maniacally as he studied his new creation.

"My work is completed!" Mojo finally announced, and Quasi opened his eyes slowly in awe.

Quasi slowly stood up, shaking, discovering his upper legs, knees, and ankles to now be a shining gray metal, all attached to his original black and white feet. He looked in wonder down at his hands, barely believing his eyes. His right hand bearing long, sharp, dagger-like metal fingers, all attached to a metal upper arm which was connected to his original lower arm and shoulder. His left hand held the same black pointy fingers from before, only now his hand and upper arm were attached to a metal lower arm which joined his new metal shoulder and left chest cavity. He silently felt his head and face, gasping when he discovered the left side of his face and cranium to be metal.

He then looked down at Mojo in wonder, who was beaming with pride, a strange mixture of fury, shock, and joy in Quasi's eyes. After a long time, Quasi finally spoke in a low, echoing voice, which now had a strange metallic tone to it.

"Heh... thanks.." He said, and then stuck out his new metal hand to Mojo. "Partner."

Mojo blinked in surprise but then shook Quasi's hand without hesitation, a sinister grin on his face.

"Together we can rule all of Townsville... even the world!" Mojo announced while tightly grasping Quasi's hand.

Suddenly Quasi pulled Mojo up over his shoulder, then after gaining momentum he hurled Mojo across the room and into the wall.

Quasi grinned to himself and looked at his new metal hand and arm.

"Thank you, Mojo, for restoring me to life and making me even more powerful... You foolishly believed that I would team up with you, a mistake that will certainly prove fatal." Quasi said in an evil voice that grew in intensity with each word while advancing on the fallen Mojo.

Mojo slowly stood up again, but much to Quasi's surprise he had that same evil grin on his face. Quasi suddenly screeched as he instantly felt an excruciating burning sensation flowing from his artificial limbs and throughout his entire body. He fell to his knees, gasping and hollering like mad, and managed to look up Mojo, who was wielding a small remote control and grinning at Quasi's pain.

"W-W-What the...?" Quasi choked out.

Mojo began to laugh evilly and pressed the button on the control, causing Quasi's pain to instantly cease, but leaving him weakened and lying on the floor.

"It seems you're the fool, Quasi. Did you not think I would be prepared for you to betray me? You are completely under my control. I hold your very life in my hands." Mojo snickered, tossing the tiny control up and down like a toy.

Quasi growled but then fell silent, having learned to try to avoid such excruciating pain.

"How? H-how is that p-possible..?" Quasi inquired in a quivering voice.

Mojo laughed again, feeling an extra boost of confidence at his control over such a once dangerous and powerful force.

"Volts of electricity. But not just any electricity. These currents have properties of Antidote X.. my latest invention, intended to be used on the Powerpuff Girls themselves, but it came in quite handy here, don't you think?"

Quasi stood up in silence, finally convinced that he had no choice but to team up with Mojo.

_But when the time is right.. I shall take him down.. But for now, I'll use his help.._ _Heh, it couldn't hurt. _Quasi eyed all of the ingenious machines and gadgets around him, smirking slightly.

He looked down at Mojo and smiled genuinely, catching Mojo off guard for a moment.

"Okay, you win. I mean it this time," Quasi said, sticking his hand out again to Mojo, "Partners?"

"Partners." Mojo said as they shook hands.

* * *

Brio zipped and zoomed throughout all of Townsville, enjoying the thrilling sensation of the air rushing across his face and whipping his spiky hair around. He twirled and looped, dove and rose, leapt and fell, enjoying his nighttime flight over the twinkling city lights.

This had become his usual nighttime routine, for as if by instinct, he would long to soar throughout the city, practice fighting in the Professor's battle simulation room, and release as much of his overflowing energy that he could.

His energy never faded, and he could never sleep because of being so full of life.

He finally sat on the roof of a nearby building to catch his breath, a bright smile upon his face that could almost light up the entire city.

"Whoo.. That was great... its things like that.. that really let you know you're alive," he said while panting and smiling to himself.

"The best time of the day is the middle of the night.. I'm glad I don't ever need sleep," He grinned and got to his feet.

He saluted goofily and put on a deep, fake, cliche superhero voice.

"I never sleep, for I am.. BRIO!" He hollered in a goofy voice, pounding on his chest and grinning from ear to ear, acting like an idiot and then laughing at himself.

He chuckled and then leapt off the building to make his course around Townsville yet again, the freedom of the early morning hours beckoning him, and not one drop in energy overcame him to slow him down.

* * *

thankies for readin'


	4. Chapter 3: Synergy

Hey all, sorry about the wait, I've been extra busy with school, had a bit of writer's block and fankly, lack of motivation. I'll continue with this so long as I know people out there want me to, thats all. :P I'm not one of those authors who'll say "I need 8 more reviews or I won't post another chapter!" All I ask is for a bit of feedback as to how I can make it better if it's lacking in some way.

Thanks for your time, and enjoy!

Chapter 3: Synergy

* * *

Brio grinned and stretched as he lay on the roof of a tall building. He gazed up at the stars in reflection and sighed happily.

He loved the beauty and majesty of the wide open nighttime sky, but he couldn't sit still for long to really enjoy it. He could already feel himself itching for more action, the silver shine of the moon and stars seemingly fueling his energy. He jumped up and began flying around yet again, enjoying the cool summer air as it caressed his face and whipped around his longish hair.

* * *

Mojo Jojo clasped his hands together impatiently, waiting to regain Quasi's attention so he could explain what he had planned further.

"Come.. I have some things to show you.." Mojo asked the obviously distracted Quasi.

Quasi was broken out of his trance enough to begin following Mojo, his mind obviously still processing his renewed strength. Mojo led him towards his workroom filled with hundreds of unfinished gadgets and creations, each one obviously completely original and unheard of.

"Behold.." Mojo said, while pointing at the wide array of unique items.

Quasi yawned and rolled his eyes while Mojo growled in annoyance.

"Well?" Mojo demanded, "What do you think?"

"Heh.." Quasi chuckled, putting his hands on his hips and surveying the objects all around him, "Who needs all this trash? I'm already powerful enough to kill the Powerpuff girls on my own."

Mojo snorted and extended his arms to represent the enormous amount of work before them.

"You will not bow to our works?" Mojo protested, slowly becoming angry, "Our genius? Our scientific accomplishments have never been so great, and only with us can you act out your revenge on the Powerpuff Girls."

Quasi spat, "I'll die before I bow to you."

Suddenly Quasi fell to his knees in pain again, his screeching and screaming loud enough to wake the dead. Mojo walked towards him and finally released the button causing Quasi to stop screaming and lie there shaking and shivering in shock.

Mojo grinned an evil grin, and in a deep, sinister, cold voice he said: "You are quite strong Quasi, but you still have failed. The Powerpuffs defeated you, nearly killed you, and you failed. To be assured of their immediate defeat you will need all the help you can get from us, especially with that new ruff on their team."

"Us?" Quasi asked skeptically, "Who are you talking about? Why do you keep saying 'us?'"

"You really think these ingenious creations came out of nowhere? I needed help to build all these things, help from those who would respect me."

Quasi just stared at Mojo like he was crazy.

"Here," Mojo said as he pointed towards four shadowy figures working silently across the room, so silently that Quasi had failed to notice them, and jumped slightly when he noticed their presence.

"I have sought them out from the farthest regions of the earth where they fled to live years ago... And now they have teamed up with me yet again, to aid us in our plan."

"Step forward, my brothers," he smirked at Quasi, "and meet our new partner."

Quasi blinked and gasped, as the ..creatures stepped forward into the light. Mojo chuckled and grinned at Quasi's disbelieving expression.

The beings in front of them were not mad, but ape. Four monkeys each with exposed brains protruding from their heads.

In front was a tiny monkey, about the size of a small dog, with white fur and little black beady eyes. He looked at Quasi and his eyes grew wide as he nervously knelt before his new ally.

"Koko Kongo.. At your service" He said in a high-pitched voice and saluted.

Quasi then looked to the next monkey who actually wasn't a monkey at all, but a baboon. He was much taller and bigger, with grey fur and an evil grin revealing his sharp teeth.

"Baboon Kaboom!" He exclaimed enthusiastically while thrusting his hand towards Quasi in order to shake it. Quasi recoiled shook the baboon's hand absent-mindedly, still staring off into space in disbelief.

Behind Baboon Kaboom was a slightly taller orangutan. He was a larger monkey, with orange fur and long lanky arms. His face was that of emotionless indifference, and he merely snorted at Quasi's presence.

"Ojo T-Tango." He said in a stuttering, raspy voice.

And finally behind the first three, and standing at nearly seven feet tall was a enormous gorilla, his muscular body covered in thick black fur and an angry glare on his face.

"Rocko Socko!" He announced in a powerful voice that shook the very building.

Quasi merely stared in surprise at Mojo's small alliance of monkeys. They each wore outfits identical to Mojo's, and stood at attention until Mojo signaled for them to relax.

After a minute or two of staring, Quasi began laughing uncontrollably, quite amused by the thought of an evil monkey empire.

Rocko Socko growled in a deep burly voice as he clenched both gigantic fists and gritted his sharp teeth, causing Quasi to instantly stop laughing and stare in surprise.

Quasi blinked, and then slowly opened his mouth in shock, screaming silent screams. His body was trembling slightly from the obvious electric antidote X volts running through his limbs, only this time the pain was too great even for him to scream.

He fell to the ground weakly, his glittery red eyes frozen wide open, his body paralyzed in painful agony.

"I think now you will think twice before disrespecting any of us," Mojo explained with a smirk, "Each of us has a control to your antidote X machinery like mine."

The other four monkeys then pulled out a small control, their fingers dangerously close to the button.

"Should we decide to press them all at once, the pain would be unimaginable."

Quasi's mouth was still hanging open as he took in what he was hearing. He simply lay there weakly and pathetically, waiting for some explanation to hit him.

At that Mojo grinned and pulled out his own little remote control, causing Quasi to flinch.

He pressed a different button, however, causing Quasi to sigh in relief. On the opposite side of the room an automatic steel door began to open slowly.

Quasi stared in stunned silence as a tall, black, metal robot lurched its way out of the chamber, its red eyes gleaming. It was mostly humanoid, but with unnaturally long arms that nearly touched the ground and sharp, knife-like fingers. It walked towards the group and stood up straight, revealing itself to be over ten feet tall, and let out a mighty mechanical roar.

_What the heck is that? _Quasi thought to himself, but was too weak to ask.

"This, is the QuasiMojo0001," Mojo said with an evil grin, delighted in Quasi's silent respect and awe.

"It is designed with my new chemical X enhanced formula. As I have explained before, I have created a whole new arsenal of antidote X enhanced weaponry, not to mention this new type of robot, specially designed to fight with artificial chemical X-based strength, but also to deflect a Puff's attack with antidote X properties."

He grinned sinisterly, "This should very easily put the girls out of commission and bring Townsville to their knees much better than you ever could dream of."

Quasi's face was twisted in a mixture of fury and pain as he weakly stood up again, still stubborn to accept his place beneath Mojo and his new allies. Quasi's shoulders shook, he beared his teeth, huffing and puffing in rage towards Mojo.

He suddenly brought back his arm to strike Mojo, but stopped immediately as he noticed the other monkeys preparing to push the buttons. Quasi trembled as he lowered his arm and his gaze down to the grinning supervillian, who hadn't even flinched.

Mojo turned his head and noticed a nearby newspaper that he had saved from weeks ago. He picked it up and shoved it in front of Quasi's face, hopefully in a last attempt to rid Quasi of his boldly disobedient tendencies.

He pointed to the front page picture that was captured just after the battle had ended of the Buttercup and Bubbles as they carried the injured Blossom and Brio home, and the headline read "Quasi Defeated: New Ruff Brio Helps Take Down the Menace" in large bold letters.

"Are you going to let these little runts defeat you again? You need our help. Only as a team can we finally end their pathetic heroics."

Quasi's face soon softened from the fear and pain, forming itself into a ferocious glare, his red eyes gleaming and his teeth showing.

"It is crucial that we complete a strategic plan before our ideas can be put into action. Only then can we truly control the world."

"I'll get them.." Quasi said in a soft, low growl, seemingly ignoring Mojo, "I'm going to kill them all."

Mojo grinned and put the paper down.

"Just think of it. The world in our grasp, under our control."

Quasi stood up straight slowly, glaring, still lost in thought. He clasped his fists in front of him, looking down at them with pure revenge in his eyes.

"I don't care about controlling the world. Just let me kill them." Quasi said, staring intently at the paper.

Mojo looked surprised for a moment but then grinned.

"But of course, ..partner. Kill them in any way you like." Mojo smirked, "These devices created by us are only here to help you kill them even more painfully."

A pause.

Quasi just stood there in silence, but the tension in the room grew exponentially by the second. The others just stood and watched, until finally Mojo turned to his allies and spoke quickly.

"I need you to help me build a few hundred more of these robots ...only then can our plan finally get underway," he said.

Mojo spoke to them as if they were robotic; emotionless, heartless.. and yet they saluted him and hurried about the lab, now busily working without a single moment of hesitation.

Mojo then looked to Quasi, "And you, I need you to capture the Powerpuffs and the Professor."

Quasi snapped out of his trance as his eyes lit up and he grinned in vengeance. But as if he read Quasi's thoughts, Mojo looked to him with a firm glare.

"But DON'T kill them yet.. There is a time and place for that.." He could tell Quasi was visibly disappointed, but still he continued, "Bring them here, where they will be held prisoner until it is time to destroy them," Mojo said.

Quasi nodded solemnly and cracked his knuckles, that sadistic grin spreading on his face again.

"Here," Mojo said as he handed Quasi a large, black and red laser gun, "This is an antidote X laser cannon, and when set on low it can temporarily knock the girls out, long enough for you to capture them and bring them here."

Surprisingly, Quasi made no protest, but instead he took the weapon and looked it over, the idea of stopping the girls so easily finally growing on him.

Quasi walked over to the door to the observatory and slowly opened it, letting the beams of silver moonlight color the obscure room.

In a flash, he was gone.

* * *

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 4: Apprehension

Sorry about the wait everyone. Been busy at school and stuff, but I finally got this chapter written. I hope everyone likes it alright.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Apprehension

* * *

Professor Utonium yawned loudly as he cleaned his dirty beakers and pulled off his rubber gloves for the night. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, taking one last look through his microscope before placing his tiny sample of pure chemical X that he had saved before creating Brio back into storage.

He yawned again as he walked out of the X Lab, closing and locking the door behind him. He stood in silence, seemingly surveying the laboratory around him. All of his life's works, his greatest inventions. The power copying machine, D.Y.N.A.M.O., the machine that switched bodies and caused all sorts of chaos throughout all of Townsville... all of his life's "greatest" works seemed to be nothing more than disasters.

His only feelings of pride and joy came from thoughts of chemical X and his three girls, and now his new son. Sure the girls' creation had been nothing more than an accident... Dick Hardly, the polluted chemical X, Jojo's wild behavior and sudden push... everything that helped create the girls was a mere moment of fluke and happenstance... and yet, he had never dreamed of being this happy in life.

And Brio. A father had never before been so proud of his son. Professor Utonium had seen his dreams crushed beneath the treachery of Professor Hardly, who ran away with all the fame, glory, money; leaving the Professor stranded with nothing more than a bottle of polluted, toxic, seemingly useless black chemical. He had planned on being lonely his entire life, and he considered himself fortunate to have three girls to call his own, much less a son bursting with innocent joy, love, and life.

How did he deserve any of it?

The Professor's feelings of pride soon melted into regret and sorrow. How close he had been to creating the pure chemical X long ago, how close he had come to receiving all the fame, glory, and money that Hardly had so wrongfully taken. But ever since it disappeared it was as though his mind had grown old and stale, and the formulas were completely erased from his memory. He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes in sudden anger.

"Hardly.." He growled the name of the nemesis who ruined him in bitter resentment.

He looked over towards several towering file cabinets; their drawers in disarray and countless papers scattered everywhere. During the past few weeks Professor Utonium had searched frantically for some kind of notes about pure chemical X back from college. Anything that might jog his memory of how to create it, and perhaps how to perfect it. If only there was a way of making it even more powerful, he could protect his girls from anything... become the perfect father.

He sighed and began walking up the stairs towards the door.

"What am I thinking? How could I perfect it now?" He said to himself hopelessly, "I can't even be a good father."

He stopped suddenly as he felt a cold hand grab him on the back of his neck. Before he could scream or even gasp, it had all gone black.

* * *

Brio lay relaxing on a fluffy white cloud, peering down at the sparkling city below. He had finally worn himself out to a state where he could relax for a few minutes, but he knew it wouldn't last long before he was itching to run off again.

The boy was a scientist's dream. Nearly infinite energy at his disposal, the essence of life in a physical form. During the days since the big fight, Professor Utonium was living that dream. Running test after test on Brio's physical composition opened a new door to thousands of unbelievable scientific possibilities.

Professor Utonium was baffled at this kind of impossible strength and stamina that showed up in the testing, and he longed to explain its source. Brio knew of his unusual nature, but not nearly of its magnitude.

He knew something felt very wrong, however, during the fight with Quasi. Brio vividly remembered the sensation of his energy decreasing and his body becoming exhausted as he poured it out against this villain and to restore Blossom's life. Such a feeling was foreign to him. Brio bombarded the Professor day after day with countless questions about why he felt this way. It disturbed him so much to feel empty or weak, and the horrid memory was embossed in his mind too deeply to forget.

The Professor longed, too, to discover how Brio had lost so much energy so easily. He had no answer, unfortunately, and instead told Brio of the endless possibilities regarding his power.

"Brio," Professor Utonium had explained with wide, excited eyes, "If only we could find a way to harness this type of power and make it available to the entire world, it would mark the beginning of an entire new era in modern medicine."

Brio, however, couldn't care less about any of these things. His inner drive was simply to live to protect. Even since the battle, other villains had caused many problems throughout the city. Brio's nature wasn't to beat up and destroy these evil-doers, but rather he felt greatly disturbed by the evil things they had done. He felt merciful towards the worst of villains, a virtue that dumbfounded his sisters.

His spirit was so wild and free from all the emotional distresses of a normal human, such as anger or jealousy, and all he knew was to care for and help others, live life to the extreme, and to not leave anything undiscovered.

His curious nature was that of a child, his heart, greater than that of a saint.

He leapt up without warning from his relaxed position, his body only needing one or two minutes to reach full power. He then shot off into the darkness of the night sky again, into the unknown.

* * *

The girls were sleeping peacefully in their bed, the nighttime silence only disturbed by the click of their bedside clock and their soft breathing as they slept. The moonlight streamed in through the windows in silver beams, creating eerie shadows across the room.

One particular shadow moved slowly and silently, forming itself into a shape. The shape was floating in the air, for it had no feet. One half of its cranium looked to be missing, and both of its arms were nonexistent.

It stepped forward silently, the missing part of its head, two arms and two feet materializing from its shadow-like body. One arm was almost completely metal, while the other was mostly dark and obscure like the rest of its body.

It advanced on the girls' bed, its metal hybrid form now completely visible in the moonlight. It silently reached its metallic hand into its black, shadow-like torso and pulled out a black and red-glowing laser cannon, seemingly from nowhere.

He faded back into the shadows of the room, wrapped his finger tightly around the trigger, and in three quick, precise blasts...

* * *

Brio gasped and stopped suddenly, his heart skipping a beat. He simply stopped flying and floated in midair, his eyes wide in surprise. He had just experienced an array of new emotions; emotions foreign to his young, pure mind. Shock, fear, worry; each created a nauseous sensation deep in his stomach. Something was very, very wrong.

He didn't know why, but he knew he needed to go back home. So without another thought he turned around and rocketed towards home, his heart beating loudly in his ears.

* * *

Thanks for reading :)


	6. Chapter 5: Circulus Concursus

I don't really know who is reading this anymore, but if anybody has remained loyal to this story, thanks, a lot. This one took a while to write, sorry about that. I hope whoever is reading this likes it.. I'd like to finish this story, but I can't seem to find the motivation. If anybody would like me to finish just let me know.

Anyways, enough of my whining. Enjoy

Chapter 5: Circulus Concursus

* * *

Black clouds floated ominously above the Townsville skyline, eclipsing the moon and layering the sleeping city with a blanket of cold darkness. A gentle breeze was the only movement in this eerily quiet city, only until a blinding white flash illuminated the empty streets, zooming at near light speed towards the suburbs.

Brio was on his way home again in a panic, fearful of what he might find.

Unfortunately for him, it was already too late.

* * *

Quasi kicked open the door to Mojo's observatory, dragging the bodies of Professor Utonium and each of the Powerpuff Girls behind him. Mojo Jojo was closely surveying the work being done by his monkey comrades and occasionally yelling an order or two.

He turned when he heard Quasi return, and grinned in anticipation.

"Excellent," He said, "good work Quasi."

"Come, bring them here..." He then signaled for Quasi and one of robots to follow him.

Mojo Jojo and one of the newly created droids escorted Quasi and his captives towards a small door on one side of the room. The door was obviously intended for Mojo, for both the droid and Quasi had to crouch to fit through.

The concealed passage lead to a small, uneven staircase that was dimly lit that seemed to wind around endlessly into deeper and deeper darkness. The two followed Mojo down the endless flight of stairs until the pitch black darkness was softened with a red-orange glow that poured through the little window of the door at the bottom. Mojo pushed open the small door and they all came to a large room, if you could even call it that.

The true floor of the chamber was a sea of molten lava far below, casting red and orange glows upon the black rock that made up the wall. However, a narrow path of suspended floor that led to a large metal grated circular platform suspended in the middle above the molten lava made up the man-made floor of the room. In the center of this larger platform, Quasi noticed five cages, but not just any metal cages. The bars on these cells were antidote X in an extremely high-voltage laser form. A single touch would kill a human and significantly weaken a chemical X being.

The droid, specifically known as QuasiMojo0005, suddenly wrenched the four bodies from Quasi's grip and heaved them roughly over its shoulder before sluggishly clanking its way along the tapered pathway towards the cages.

Quasi simply blinked in surprise at the robot's actions and followed hesitantly along the narrow pathway that led to the large circular platform. As they made their way towards the center of the platform and towards the 5 cavities, Mojo pulled out his remote control and turned off the antidote X rays of each cell, allowing the robot to place each of his prisoners one by one in each cage.

A pause.

"Well, what about the other one?" Mojo asked in annoyance.

"What?"

"The fifth Utonium!" Mojo protested.

Quasi's eyes widened as he remembered the fourth chemical X child, the new Ruff, the one who had been the driving force of everything that defeated him before... How could he have forgotten!

"You're telling me you didn't capture him as well!" Mojo exclaimed.

"I cannot believe this! I simply cannot believe it!" Mojo roared as he began to hop up and down in anger. He pulled out his remote control and pressed the button several times, each delivering a painful shock to Quasi's body accompanying a bitter insult.

"How could you possibly be so stupid, idiotic, incompetent, brainless, foolish!"

Quasi screamed in pain with each shock, each one more painful than the last. He fell to his knees and finally to the ground, convulsing in pure agony.

"H-he.. He wasn't t-there," Quasi croaked out in between gasps, "I..I b-b-brought everyone in the house.."

Mojo stopped short, still heaving and bearing his teeth in rage. He dropped the remote and stepped towards Quasi.

"Well, what are you waiting for, worthless beast, find him!"Mojo signaled to the robot, and the droid then kicked Quasi hard in the side.

Quasi hollared in pain as 0005 then held him up by his neck, his tired body hanging lifelessly above the ground.

"I ..don't know w-where he is," Quasi spat in between grunts and gasps, "How c-c-could I possibly know? Little b-brats should be asleep in.. in bed this time of n-night."

Mojo walked silently towards the opposite side of the platform, still steaming with anger, but apparently pondering the next course of action.

"Very well then," he finally said after a long pause, "if you are too weak to carry out your duties then we'll put some of my new creations to the test."

Quasi scowled at Mojo, still quivering with pain.

Mojo quickly pulled out some kind of walkie-talkie, spoke something in a strange monkey language, and in moments Koko Kongo came scampering down the stairway in a frenzy.

"Y-y-y-yes master Mojo?" He stuttered in fear.

"Send out the droids, we have a mission for them," Mojo ordered.

"B-b-b-but sir, they are not finished yet.. the ones we have now are but prototypes, and they are still being tested," Koko said cautiously, cowering beneath Mojo's imminent angry reaction.

Koko was hit hard by a slap in the face, then kicked across the floor, rolling dangerously close to the edge of the platform.

"What did I just say?" Mojo sneered and began to yell, "I said I wanted you to send out the droids, now do what I say!"

"B-b-but, sir," Koko persisted.

"NOW!"

The force of Mojo's orders nearly pushed Koko over the edge of the metal platform and into the lava below, causing Koko to frantically claw at the ground to keep his balance. Without another word he shakily stood again and ran up the stairs to deliver the orders to the others.

Quasi watched the entire scene in awe, surprised at Mojo's ruthlessness.

_Hmm.. Very surprising indeed. Perhaps Mojo isn't as weak as I had assumed.. Heh, not bad for a rotten ape._

Suddenly Quasi's eyes went wide as an idea hit him, a brilliant idea. Quasi grinned evilly to himself but quickly masked it with a scowl as the robot roughly pushed him towards the stairway to follow Mojo.

Each of the puffs were now resting in their own individual cages, like animals, completely unaware of what had happened to them as they slept. And the Professor, too, was now sleeping weakly, the intense heat of the volcano room making him sweat and the toxic fumes making him wheeze in his sleep.

* * *

Brio burst through the door of the Utonium household, knowing from the first glance that things weren't right, not right at all. The house was completely undamaged, nothing was out of place. But something was still very wrong.

Brio first searched for the girls in their own bedroom, sickened to find all three of them gone and their blankets in disarray on the floor.

_Remain calm.. They're probably just out on a mission.. _

But Brio couldn't remain calm, something evil still hung in the air, the smell, taste, feel of it all. He had to know for sure.

_But first, I'll check my room, just to make sure..Maybe they're in there, or even out looking for me._

Brio flew across the hall to a small room that used to be the Professor's study. It was recently remodeled into Brio's cozy bedroom, ironically with a bed that would never be slept in. Brio searched around, seemingly looking for something of importance. He scattered the contents of his drawers across the room, searching frantically. He finally uncovered a pair of pants and dug through the pockets, soon pulling out a piece of paper that was covered in chicken scratch handwriting. He let out a huge sigh of relief and stood up.

_Good.. Whoever was here wasn't after this, or at least they didn't find it.. _Brio grasped the scrap of paper to his chest, before stuffing it in his pocket to continue searching the house.

_The Professor.._

He searched the Professor's bedroom, surprised to find no one there, but even more surprised to find the bed made up, as if the Professor hadn't even gone to bed yet that night.

_The lab.._

He zipped downstairs to the laboratory and found just what he expected, the Professor's things still left out as if he had disappeared while working.

Brio began to panic. He didn't know what to do, where to look. He very well couldn't protect his family if he didn't know where they were.

_What if they're dead? _Brio thought in a panic, gasping and feeling the tears come to his eyes, _What if it's all MY fault? _

Brio was nearly in tears, breathing heavily and gasping with each horrible thought. With each new fear was a new emotion he hadn't experienced, and all at once he just couldn't take it. Amazing that a being so powerful could be subdued by strong emotion that he had never encountered until now.

Brio finally opened his eyes again and noticed the room to be significantly darker. He rapidly twisted his head around behind him and yelped when he saw a tall, polished-black steel robot standing right behind him.

He just dodged it's powerful punch as it slammed into the floor, leaving a large crater in its place.

"Who are you!" Brio shouted in rage, "What have you done with my family?"

The robot said nothing, and began firing a series of antidote X blasts at Brio, as he nimbly dodged each one. Brio landed on the ground and rocketed towards the robot, delivering a powerful punch to its chest.

In his rage the punch was hard and powerful, for he managed to make deep dent on the robot's torso. But even though the robot was a weaker, cheaper prototype model, the black duranium metal that made up its armor still made Brio's hand completely numb with pain.

Brio jumped back and howled in pain, looking down at his throbbing hand, running his other hand across it and feeling the surely shattered bone inside. He grit his teeth, seething, and it took all of his willpower to hold back the painful tears that clouded his eyes.

But Brio wasn't going to be stopped so soon. He jumped up and prepared to attack again, but this time with a cardio pulse wave. He began gathering his energy even more rapidly than usual, his rage and adrenaline flowing.

In that instant, however, another robot appeared behind Brio, wrapping its powerful metal arms around Brio's body from behind, holding him still no matter how hard he struggled against the droid's tight grip.

Brio focused suddenly on the first robot, terrified, as it fired its blast point blank without any hesitation, giving Brio hardly any time to think or even breathe.

In that split-second of resourcefulness and quick-thinking, however, Brio created an invisible shield directly in front of him, giving the illusion that he was, in fact, hit with the blast.

Brio's head instantly slumped over as he appeared to have fallen unconscious, and the seemingly victorious droids returned promptly to Mojo's lair.

* * *

With a final heave and a push of Mojo's remote, Brio was quickly incarcerated within the confines of this antidote X prison, just like his father and sisters. Mojo was quite pleased with the robots' work for apprehending this incredibly powerful ruff with ease, much to the shock and envy of Quasi himself.

_How on earth could I let this happen? Getting shown up by a couple of mindless metal monstrosities, _Quasi looked back towards Brio's cage and suspiciously at Brio's unconscious body.

_I refuse to believe it. There's no way Brio could have been defeated so easily._

Quasi couldn't shake these uneasy feelings, but masked his doubt so that Mojo didn't notice. They both stood at the doorway to the dungeon-like room, watching the robot as he turned to follow them up the stairs to the observatory.

But as the robot turned to leave, but stopped suddenly, frozen in mid-step.

Quasi blinked and felt a jump in the energy of the room, but quickly dismissed it as the robot simply short-circuiting.

"Those darn lazy monkeys.. I told them hundreds of times that the stupid droids need a longer battery life.." Mojo muttered to himself as he huffed and turned to continue back up the stairs, with Quasi following close behind.

As the door slammed behind them, the robot fell forward, the smoking crater in his back now visible. Brio stood now with his arm pointed outwards, his hand smoking as well, an angry scowl on his face.

"Heh, I'm just lucky they were prototypes," Brio said as he began to power up and glow a bright white light as he had once before during the battle with Quasi.

"Adrenaline Rush!" He yelled, shaking the entire volcano lair with his voice and his rumbling power.

In an instant his antidote X cage had exploded and been incinerated in this powerful life-energy that was radiating around him.

He then jumped forward and leapt towards Blossom's cage, panicking as he felt his temporary burst of energy dwindling fast.

Brio bravely reached straight through the antidote X rays and grabbed Blossom's lifeless arm, grit his teeth in pain and extended the white aura down his arm and around her body. In one quick motion he yanked her through the painful bars of the cage, keeping her completely unharmed, and quickly repeated the process for Bubbles and Buttercup as well.

As he did all of this, ear-splitting alarms began to sound throughout the lair. Brio knew his time was running out to escape. But as Brio reached inside the Professor's cage to save him as well, he was kicked from behind and thrown across the platform. Brio stood up quickly, getting a look at his attacker and gasping in surprise.

A new droid now stood before him, prepped for attack. Brio's eyes widened at the robot's rapid response to the alarm, and its undetected entry of the room. Nevertheless, Brio took a fighting stance as he prepared to attack again.

The robot began to laugh in a ghostly, echoing voice.

Brio's eyes grew wide again, but he soon glared at his opponent.

"You can't fool me, Quasi."

The form of the robot quickly morphed into the likeness of the new and improved Quasi, with a disappointed look in his eyes.

"Aww.. but I was going for the whole dramatic reaction thing," Quasi mockingly pouted and began to narrate the events in a playful voice, " "Quasi!' Brio gasped and shook in terror, 'But.. HOW?'"

Brio's expression became serious and annoyed, "Cut the crap, Quasi."

"Seriously, though...do tell me," Quasi said with a laugh, "how'd you know it was me?"

Brio narrowed his eyes in anger, "I figured it was you, I've had a sickening feeling for weeks that you still weren't completely dead. And now I know why. Besides, there's no way Mojo could do this by himself. "

"Yeah, true.. The stupid baboon would be lost without me," Quasi puffed out his chest in pride, letting his ego get the better of him.

Brio suddenly grinned mischievously, hoping to deflate that ego, "So you're working for Mojo now?" He spoke as though he was just making small-talk and snickered, "Are you really that desperate?"

Quasi fumed and his eyes started to glow a dangerous blood-red glow. He quickly regained this composure, however, and ignored Brio's teasing as he began to advance on him, snickering.

"I'm afraid it was really not my choice, for it was Mojo who made the mistake of bringing me back to life," Quasi explained with an evil grin, "it really doesn't matter who I'm working with, so long as I kill you in the end."

"But I thought you were too good for partners, eh? Isn't that why you broke things off with Him?" Brio smirked a little while savoring Quasi's infuriated reactions as he mocked him. Oh, what fun it was to watch Quasi seethe beneath the remarks of nothing more than a smart-mouth child.

Quasi powered up his metal arm so much that it was glowing bright red, preparing to blast Brio with antidote X rays.

"I'm impressed Brio.. Not a bad move you pulled, not bad at all," Quasi spoke in a calming voice, despite the fact that he was talking to Brio at gunpoint, "I knew those MojoQuasi.. QuasiMojo ..whatchyamacallit.. droids couldn't have stopped you so easily, I'm just surprised Mojo could be so stupid as to believe it."

Brio said nothing and simply glared back at Quasi, waiting for him to continue.

"But I'm afraid that despite a valiant effort, it all ends here,"Quasi said, as fired the blast.

* * *

Thanks for reading


	7. Chapter 6: Exodus

I figure there's no avoiding it lol. So here's the next chapter. Maybe some of you will catch my own little joke I made at myself for how cliched and sometimes silly this story seems when I read it back to myself. I hope its not too much of a rip off.. I really did think of all these ideas myself and with the help of some friends. Oh well, I hope people enjoy it anyway.

On with the fic

Chapter 6: Exodus

* * *

Brio leapt forward at the last second, slamming his fist into the side of Quasi's metal skull. Quasi yelped in surprise and fired the antidote X blast blindly at the rock wall, barely missing Brio.

Quasi quickly morphed his metal arm from a gun into a tentacle-like appendage. The powerful metal tendril quickly wrapped itself around Brio's neck before he could attack again, and wasting no time at all, Quasi proceeded to give him several antidote X shocks similar to the ones Mojo could inflict on Quasi himself.

Brio cried out with each powerful shock, struggling beneath Quasi's powerful grip.

At once Quasi was hit hard in the stomach, causing him to gasp in pain and unconsciously release Brio from his strangling hold.

Brio fell to the ground, gasping for air and convulsing in pain from all the antidote X shocks, not to mention still recovering the energy he had lost when reaching through the antidote X rays to rescue the girls. His vision began to blur and go dark, and the image of a golden-haired girl was all he could make out.

Bubbles shook Brio a few times to try and wake him, while Blossom and Buttercup held Quasi off long enough to allow Bubbles the time she needed.

The energy Brio had transferred as a shield to pull the girls from their antidote X prisons had fortunately given them a burst in energy, and in turn eventually woken them from their dead-like sleep. Now as they took over the fight, the roles had switched from the rescued to the rescuers.

Brio's eyes opened after a few moments, and he stood up weakly with Bubbles' help. He gasped when he noticed Blossom and Buttercup fighting Quasi, the deadly tendril trying desperately to lasso both puffs at once.

"Girls! Be careful!" Brio warned and stumbled as he advanced on them, "Don't let that tentacle.. thing touch you!"

Buttercup and Blossom stopped for only a split second to comprehend what Brio was saying, and in that instant the tendril wrapped tightly around Buttercup's waist, causing all four of them to gasp in surprise.

Almost instantly following that was an extremely bright light, so blindingly radiant that nobody in the room could see, much less fight. Once again Quasi released his grip around Buttercup's waist before he got a chance to shock her, leaving her completely unharmed.

Everyone hollered and rubbed their eyes furiously, the after effects of the light leaving them each temporarily paralyzed and blinded.

Bubbles, however, the bearer of the brilliant blast, remained unharmed. Her appearance looked just as it did during the final battle with Quasi: bright golden light poured out from the tips of her hair, completely consumed her eyes in its radiant shine and even seemed to glow directly from her skin.

At true light speed, Bubbles grabbed the arms of Brio, Buttercup and Blossom; herding them out the door, up the stairs, out of the observatory and onto the park below in only a few milliseconds.

Bubbles stopped short at the base of Mojo's volcano lair, completely exhausted from her rapid escape.

A few moments later the effects of the blinding ray had worn off, and now Brio, Blossom and Buttercup were looking around them, confused.

All they had to do was simply stare at Bubbles' glowing form as it faded back to normal to understand what had happened.

"Geez, you really need to work on that move," Buttercup said, annoyed, while still rubbing her eyes.

"A simple 'thank you' will suffice," Bubbles said and rolled her eyes.

They all suddenly looked up, and with their heightened senses already knew that something was approaching from the top of Mojo's volcano lair.

"What on earth is that..?" Bubbles thought aloud.

"You don't want to know," Brio panicked as he urged the girls to follow him, "we need to get as far away from here as possible as quickly as possible."

"Bah, whatever it is, I can take it," Buttercup boasted just as four of the ten-foot black metal guard droids landed on the ground in front of them.

A man who was taking an early morning jog in Townsville park screamed and ran at the sight of these machines, and the puffs too were shocked at what Mojo had created.

After a moment however, Buttercup spoke again.

"...Pfft, that's nothing.. Mojo has created bigger robots than this,"Buttercup assured her sisters as she puffed out her chest.

Blossom shook her head in awe and took a step backwards, "No, Buttercup, I can already sense that these robots are way more powerful than any robot Mojo has ever made.."

"Nonsense," Buttercup chuckled as she took a fighting stance.

"Buttercup, NO!" Brio yelled in a panic.

"Leave me alone, Brio,"Buttercup spat, "I can take care of myself."

Buttercup jumped at the robots, pulling her fist back and slamming it into one of the droids' face. She screamed a painful scream as she recoiled in pain, making a small dent in the robot's armored skull.

It took only one painful reverberation of her powerful punch for Buttercup to realize what Brio and Blossom had been trying to say. Buttercup took a step backward, stuttering in fear as the robots prepared their antidote X guns to fire upon them.

"I dunno about you guys but I say we should retreat this time," Buttercup said as she slowly inched farther and farther away, close to her siblings again.

"Exactly... normally I'd say that the Powerpuffs never lose or back down from a fight, but like I urged before... I think it would be wise if we RUN!" Brio shouted right as the robots opened fire.

The girls and Brio took off towards Townsville, hoping to evade the robots and seek safety long enough for Brio to regain his energy again. At least that was the girls' agenda, Brio, however, was only concerned with remaining hidden long enough for him to share his special plan with the girls.

* * *

When Brio reached a dark, deserted alley, he quickly herded the girls behind some old boxes where they sat silent and hidden until the coast was clear.

After a long, frightened pause, Buttercup finally spoke up.

"Thanks Brio, for saving us back there... And you too, Bubbles.. we owe you one.." Buttercup said as she grabbed each of her siblings in a hug.

"I should be thanking you all, it was all of us working together that got us out of there alive," Brio corrected.

"I'm sure Quasi was really steamed when he found out that we got away..." Bubbles trailed off, quivering a little in fear, "only a matter of time until he finds us again."

Brio hugged each of his sisters tightly but then began to speak rapidly and softly, so to remain hidden.

"Girls, we don't have much time," He reached into his pocket and pulled out the scrap of paper he had found in his room.

"...What's going on here?" Blossom asked curiously, "We're all still very lost.."

"I feel like I've known this was coming.. for a long time... I had sensed it.. that Quasi wasn't dead. And..so I've been thinking.. I've been thinking about how we could defeat Quasi since we obviously didn't the first time. And I've done some research on a possible way that we could stop both him and Mojo-," He said quickly.

"It's impossible." Buttercup interrupted flatly. "Now that he's teamed up with Mojo, he's unstoppable. You saw very well how closely we came to being killed back there by those robots-"

"Yeah," Blossom interrupted, "the design is genius.. not even chemical X powers can put a dent in them..."

"This time we can't even touch them," Bubbles added, "They've won and you know it, Brio."

Brio's face twisted into a determined glare, causing the girls to recoil in shocked silence.

"There is still a way," he said simply.

"But.. how?" Blossom asked helplessly, "What can we possibly do?"

"This is a longshot, but it's our only hope.." he glanced at his scribbled sheet of paper and then back at the girls.

"There is a legend that describes a similar situation to this," Brio explained.

"What do you mean?" Bubbles inquired.

"As I was searching for you girls, I came upon this sheet of paper that I took some notes on. About two or three weeks ago I discovered a news headline about it that sparked my interest," he said.

"Yeah, yeah," Buttercup insisted, "get to the point,"

Brio scowled at Buttercup but continued speaking quickly, "You see, this ancient structure was recently discovered in central Africa. Something of legend that nobody thought really existed. Coincidence? Maybe. But it could be the key to stopping Quasi."

"What is this legend?" Buttercup asked impatiently again, "And what does that have to do with this?"

"The structure in Africa looks much like the one described in the legend. The inscriptions on the door are in Latin, leading archeologists to believe that the structure is from the ancient Roman empire.."

"The Roman empire? In central Africa?" Blossom asked skeptically, and then took on her usual snobbish, know-it-all tone of voice, "I'm quite sure that from memorizing the Encyclopedia that the Roman empire stretched into Egypt but not into central Africa and-"

"Skip the history lesson and tell us the freaking legend," Buttercup nearly yelled, before Brio clasped his hand over her mouth and signaled for her to be quiet.

"I've looked up on this, Blossom.. I discovered that their empire stretched farther than any other before them, even farther than most laymen know of.. nearly every square mile of Europe, parts of the middle East and even down into northern Africa.."

"Wow.." Bubbles said in wonder.

Buttercup yawned rudely, not listening at all.

Blossom waited impatiently, tapping her foot.

"But not even the most educated historians and archeologists knew that the Roman empire even stretched deep into the heart of Africa, the Congo."

"Neither did I," Blossom said, completely sure of herself, "and I still don't believe it until I see it for myself."

Brio ignored her rudeness,"This milestone is an enormous breakthrough in history and science, but unfortunately, the structure they have unearthed is made of solid stone, and sealed so tightly that none can get in, not even man's most powerful machines and even dynamite."

Buttercup rolled her eyes and finally spoke up again, almost as loud as before.

"Well this is all very nice.. But what on earth does it have to do with us?"

Brio turned to Buttercup and smiled, his saint-like patience one of his greatest virtues.

"Well, I believe the key to unlocking your powers completely lies inside this ancient Roman temple. And the only way to defeat this.. 'QuasiMojo Empire' is by unearthing your individual powers completely, and each of us using them to work together."

"But.. how?" Bubbles asked in wonder. "How could something from an ancient race of people help us now?"

"That's where the legend comes in," Brio explained.

"Finally," Buttercup said as she began to half pay attention.

"This legend comes from thousands of years ago, just as the early Roman empire was beginning to gain more power. It describes a monstrous demon of pure evil, conquering the world and causing chaos, death and destruction with its phenomenal power."

Brio paused for effect, "The only force that could stop it was the four universal powers."

He showed his notes to the girls and pointed to a small pencil sketch. A circle in the center represented earth, within it was a fiery core and on one side of the circle was complete darkness, while the other was the sun.

"These powers belonged to four different gods-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know all of this," Blossom interrupted, "Roman Gods.. Jupiter, Pluto, Neptune.. those guys."

"I'm afraid not, Blossom. First, there was Vulcan, the God of Fire. He held the powers within the earth, the flaming core of our planet," he gestured towards the core on the picture.

"Helios, the God of Light, held the powers of the sun that rises everyday and its light and warmth is shed upon the earth," he pointed to the sun.

"Erebus, the God of Darkness, held the powers of darkness and the cold of night as it covers our earth in sleep." He then pointed to the dark side of the planet.

"And finally, Mithras, God of Life. He is the connecting thread that holds all of these things together, making the world we live in. In ancient times he was believed to be the mediator God, containing powers of the sun, heaven and earth. Without him, none of these things could work in sync with one another and life couldn't be set into motion the way it should." Brio said, while gesturing in a rotating motion all around the picture, to signify the movement of life and the forces of nature.

The girls sat quietly and listened, waiting for more.

"For lack of a better description, Mithras would be like the modern being we know of as God, a warrior and also a mediator."

Brio coughed a few times, still weakened from before, but continued.

"Anyway... Vulcan, Erebus, and Helios each combined their powers into an unstoppable force, while Mithras sealed it all into a single weapon with great power," Brio explained further, "And this weapon was supposedly sealed in a hidden temple, and until now that temple was never found."

"So.. The ancient structure they recently discovered is where this super-weapon is?" Buttercup asked, suddenly interested and excited, "Then lets go get it!"

"Unfortunately, it's not that easy." Brio said with a sigh.

"Whaddya mean?" Buttercup protested impatiently, "We can easily break through solid stone!"

"I'm afraid not, Buttercup,"Brio said, "According to legend this temple is locked up tight with Mithras' spell, and can only be opened when the bearers of the four universal powers blast through the door at once."

The girls fell silent, the excited hope leaving their faces at this news. After a moment Brio continued:

"But as you may have already figured out, each of your hidden powers is a reflection of the power of each of those Gods."

They looked up to him in awe.

"Us?" Blossom asked in wonder, "We hold powers.. of _gods?_"

Brio simply nodded and smiled at their flabbergasted expressions.

He pointed to Blossom, "Blossom, you possess the power of Vulcan, God of Fire. It is also refereed to by its ancient name, Bruciare."

Brio then turned to Bubbles, "Bubbles, you hold the power of Helios, God of the Sun. Your powers of light were once called Brillare."

"Well..." Bubbles said in awe while looking down at her two hands and chuckling, "that explains a lot."

He then finally looked to Buttercup, "And finally, Buttercup, you contain the power of Erebus, The God of Darkness. Which we call by its old name, Buio."

"Darkness..?" Buttercup thought aloud in disbelief, "...sweeeet."

There was a moment of silence as the girls took in this crucial and startling information. Finally, after a long time, Bubbles turned to Brio, her eyes wide and curious.

"What about you Brio? Do you have a hidden power too?" She asked.

Brio laughed a little and smiled at her.

"Well, I guess you could say that. I have a bit of each of your powers... But if you mean one specifically to me, yes, I do. My powers are from Mithras, the soldier God of Life," Brio smiled, "My powers are known as Brio, or life, but you can just call me Brio," he said with a wink while the girls giggled a little, but soon became serious again.

"But the difference between my powers and yours is that mine are already awakened, while yours are still lying dormant."

"Ahhh.. I understand now," Bubbles said thoughtfully.

"When each of your hidden powers have been awakened, together we will form the unbreakable bonds of the four sides of the Diamond."

"The what?"

"Remember that technique we tried when were fighting Quasi before?" Brio asked.

"Yeah.. when we all tried to awaken our powers.. The one that didn't work?" Buttercup asked skeptically.

"Your powers were still very young, and you were not yet ready to unleash them to their full extent. To make it work, your powers need to be at their maximum potential, forming the bonds of the Diamond. The Diamond is the key to revealing the power necessary to defeat Quasi."

"...Really?" Blossom asked in awe, "Are you sure it will work?"

"Yes, to form these bonds successfully and defeat Quasi for the final time we need to awaken your powers, go into the ancient Roman temple, blast through the door, and retrieve the Diamond sword."

"Woah, woah.. back up.. ..what?" Buttercup scratched her head in confusion.

Brio rolled his eyes, "Remember? That super-weapon?"

Buttercup thought for a moment, "...Oh yeah! Sweet."

"Wow.. A Diamond sword?" Blossom asked in wonder, "the weapon supposedly forged by the Gods themselves?"

"Yeah, and it is imperative that we retrieve it soon, before Quasi and Mojo gain more power than we can handle."

"Heh.. No pressure," Buttercup said with a nervous chuckle.

"Okay... Next question: How do we awaken our powers to do this?" Blossom asked.

Brio flipped over his paper of notes and smiled a little as he read them over quickly.

"I've already gotten that covered as well," he said, "To awaken your powers, you must go to the sites of your particular God's power."

Each of them fell silent, however, as metallic footsteps ran past the alley they were hiding in. After a few moments Blossom spoke up in a hurried whisper.

"Sites?" Blossom asked quickly, "Where do we have to go, Brio?"

He read his paper aloud in a soft, rapid voice: "Blossom, you must go to the city of Pompeii in Italy, that is where Vulcan's power is hidden. You'll find a chamber that leads inside Mount Vesuvius, the volcano. There you will search for the beast you must defeat to obtain the power."

"Beast?" Blossom asked, "Geez this is something straight out of Zelda or Harry Potter.."

"Don't blame me, blame the writer of this ridiculous story."

"What?"

"Nevermind," Brio cleared his throat and continued, "Yes, each of you will find a beast that you must defeat in order to gain your hidden power."

Bubbles spoke nervously and gulped, "Why does there always have to be a monster?"

"In order to control your power, you must defeat it," Brio said.

Before Bubbles could ask another question Brio was already giving her very important instructions.

"Bubbles, you must go to the city of Korinthos in Greece, climb to the peak of Mount Akrokorinthos, the mountain dedicated to Helios himself. There you will obtain your power."

"Right," Bubbles said, determination masking her fear.

"And Buttercup, your destination is Mount Erebus in Antarctica, another volcano."

"Antarctica!" Buttercup exclaimed and began to complain, "How lame is that? They get to go to Italy and Greece.."

"Yeah, it is where you will find Erebus' power hidden in the summer, because there is little to no sunlight, a perfect place for the power of Darkness. You'll need to find a small entrance at the base of the volcano and go underground into the darkness, and that is where you will find your power."

Even Buttercup gulped and shivered a little at the thought.

"So uhh.. that was a lot of information just then.. care to run it by me a second time?" Buttercup asked nervously with a laugh while Brio slapped his forehead in frustration.

"Okay.. Two things. First off, what? Second off, how the heck do you know all this!" Blossom asked.

"I'm just THAT good," Brio said with a goofy grin while the others rolled their eyes.

"..Can't you come with me Brio? I'm scared to go alone.." Bubbles shivered a little."I can't go with you. If you can't do this alone we don't have any hope of stopping Quasi."

Bubbles bit her lip and whimpered a little bit. Blossom was in deep thought, still trying to process everything.

Suddenly, more metallic footsteps were heard approaching rapidly from far off, causing Brio to stand up quickly in panic.

"Girls, you need to get out of here, now!" He ordered, "Go where I told you to as soon as possible, it's our only hope!"

"But-" Blossom started.

"Don't worry about me or the Professor or anything else, just go!" He shoved his paper into Blossom's hands and pointed off in the distance. "Hurry! They're coming!"

Without hesitation the girls were off in separate directions.

The QuasiMojo robots watched them fly off, but just as they were about to split up and follow them, Brio leapt into the street, shouting at them.

"Come on you metal morons!" He boasted at the top of his lungs, "Just try to hit me!"

The robots turned their attention to Brio, staring icily at him as they readied their guns in preparation, their previous mission forgotten.

* * *

Thanks for reading

A/N: Ifthere's anybody out there who would like to do some fanarts they would be much appreciated.. I want to see the kind of ideas that other people have in their minds about this story. Personally I'll be sticking to only drawing after this, not so much writing. But thats more than anyone cared to know lol. Sohere's some stuff thatI drewto help: Brio:http/img. http/img. 


	8. Chapter 7: Arisen Quest

Hi everybody. Hope you all had great holidays and everything, yeah. So here's the next chapter. lol, sorry its short, and the plot is kinda lame, but I'll try to make it pick up soon. Tips/feedback is good. Thanks, Enjoy.

Chapter 7: Arisen Quest

* * *

Brio suddenly leapt at one of the robots and placed a powerful kick to its face, but was instantly knocked down by another. 

Brio stood up, dusted himself off and smirked, "Is that all you've got?"

He warmed up his laser vision and let out a powerful, silver-white beam at his opponents, but unfortunately, not putting a dent in their new and improved black metal armor.

The robots began firing their laser cannons again, and Brio dodged each one and quickly took cover behind a parked car.

_We'll see how they like this.. _

He closed his eyes in meditation, placed his hand solemnly over his heart, knelt down to one knee, and gathered pulsating life energy straight from his heart.

He waited until the robots has slowed their intense firing before leaping out onto the street, gritting his teeth in fury and slamming his fist into the ground, causing the most powerful Cardio Pulse Wave blast he had ever done. The impact created a phenomenal invisible force that shook deep into the ground and the air as well as it radiated all around the point of contact, the manmade epicenter. Even these extremely powerful robots were shaken off their feet and damaged on impact as the earth quaked beneath them.

When Brio had finished pouring out as much power as he could muster into the blast he felt his heart beating weakly in his chest like an injured bird trying desperately to fly. He fell to his knees, grasping his heart and breathing heavily, not even noticing the robots as they stood again, battered from the blast, but still functional.

Brio was then pounded into a nearby building when he was blasted with inhuman accuracy by a powerful red antidote X beam. When Brio tried to stand up again he found himself to be temporarily paralyzed.

His eyes glowed white and his entire body was soon covered with a shining white aura as he tried desperately to power up for an Adrenaline Rush.

But as the robots closed in on him, he felt his eyelids growing heavy and his mind drifting into a black, dreamless sleep.

_No.. wait.._ he felt himself calling faintly inside his mind, and then it all went black.

* * *

Mojo Jojo sat at a large computer, grinning at a screen that took up nearly an entire wall. On the screen was a large map of Townsville, and little red blinking dots that represented each of his droids. Their task was to control the city: disable the police department and hold the mayor hostage. Everything was going to plan, especially since the Powerpuff Girls had fled the city. He drummed his fingers on the console gleefully, occasionally glancing behind him and chuckling. 

Behind him was Quasi, grunting and growling in rage as he struggled beneath the grip of two droids that were holding both of his arms.

"I still don't understand," he complained between grunts, "why don't you let me go after them?"

Mojo chuckled, spinning his chair around and standing up.

"You have failed me Quasi, twice. First, when you failed to apprehend the fourth Powerpuff, and second, when you let all of them GET AWAY!"Mojo's voice rose in fury and intensity with each word, causing the other monkeys who were busily working on more and more droids to jump and instinctively run and hide.

"It wasn't my fault, they just disappeared out of thin air, I swear it," Quasi protested.

Quasi groaned loudly as the robots tightened their grip on his arms even more.

"I don't want to hear it. You've proven more than once that you're too incompetent and too stupid to be trusted with anything."

"If I'm so irresponsible then what did you even need me for? Those robots made by your little monkey buddies are powerful enough as it is," Quasi spat, causing Mojo to smirk a little.

"That's exactly what I was thinking. Strange.. Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought," Mojo said, "I was just starting to wonder if I even really needed you anymore."

Quasi snickered, "You know I'm the most powerful villain who ever lived, there's no way you could be dumb enough to give that up."

"Oh, no I'm not going to give you up," Mojo explained, "I'll just use your power for myself."

"What?"

"You may be too foolish to realize just how much potential you really have, but I'm not," Mojo grinned as he watched Quasi's astonished reaction, "which is why I've decided to simply take your power for myself."

"You CAN'T!" Quasi roared, lurching at Mojo and being quickly yanked back by the droids.

"I can, and I will," Mojo sneered.

* * *

Blossom flew out of the city of Townsville as fast as she could, the world blurring past her as she flew east from the city. She looked behind her nervously to see if she had escaped the robots and saw Bubbles flying towards her a few feet back. Bubbles looked as though she had changed dramatically within the past few minutes, for a look of anger and determination covered her usually cheery, smiling face. 

Blossom waited until they were many miles out of the city limits before she dropped back in speed and was flying alongside her sister.

"Hey Bubbles," she said nervously, finding her sister's silence disheartening, "..are you okay?"

Bubbles stared ahead in silence, seemingly glaring at the task that lay before her. Blossom watched in awe as Bubbles silently lurched ahead, instantly independent of her "older" sister.

Blossom opened her mouth, about to shout an order for her to stay back, but stopped herself just in time. She even smiled a little bit as she watched Bubbles shoot forward towards her destination, a new kind of fire and drive burning inside.

They crossed over the foamy beach and into an endless sea of blue water and salty breeze. The sheer vastness of the ocean was breathtaking, for they flew for miles and miles without any land in sight.

They flew that way for what felt like hours, Bubbles in front for a change, seemingly leading the leader. Even with their super speed, the time seemed to pass slowly, and when the sun finally started to rise on the sea's horizon Blossom could already tell this was going to be a looooong day.

However, once the new day was born, the orange sunrise suddenly began approaching them at a rapid rate as they flew through many time zones in the blink of an eye. Such a surreal sensation, to be flying so fast into the daylight, seemingly defying the laws of space and time.

Blossom shielded her eyes from the blinding golden rays, and dropped her speed dramatically as she struggled to see. Bubbles, however, seemed to drink in the sun's light, and it only pulled her even farther ahead. Just as Blossom was about to tell Bubbles where Greece was, her blonde-haired sister turned very slightly to the right, heading in the direction of Greece, with no questions asked or words spoken. In no time she was out of Blossom's sight, completely on her own to conquer this challenge.

Blossom smiled and veered to the left, heading even deeper into the unknown of her destination.

* * *

Buttercup muttered to herself as she flew south, way south. She turned her head back as she grouchily watched America disappear quickly into the ocean as she flew farther and farther away. 

"Stupid Brio, thinks he knows everything.. Bah, I could've taken those robots on by myself," she grumbled to herself as she flew past the equator and wiped her brow.

She thought these kinds of things for a while, before succumbing to her inner doubts and fears.

_Who am I kidding? I would be nowhere without Brio or my sisters.. _She thought, disgusted with herself. _Everything is hopeless, I might as well just give this thing up right now. _

Buttercup stopped in midair and turned to look back at where America had been, but now appeared to be long gone. She deeply considered just turning back, giving up, and not even trying.

But as expected, the words of Brio still rang in her head, despite how much she insisted that she wouldn't listen to them at all. If one of them failed or gave up, the other two's efforts would be completely useless.

_I'm not going to betray my sisters like that... _she thought, _I'll try, but if this doesn't work I'm going to kill Brio when I get back there.._

Buttercup continued to grumble and complain to herself as she flew towards Antarctica once again, only they were more in annoyance rather than selfish pride.

* * *

Bubbles continued on to Greece without so much as a peep. She stared heedlessly into the blinding sun as it bore down on her mercilessly, her very being seeming to absorb its energy. 

Bubbles scowled and increased her speed yet again, not even breaking a sweat after her long journey over the ocean. She descended closer to the shining blue water, staring at her reflection.

A foamy white trail followed her usual baby blue streak as she flew across the rippling sea. She sighed and closed her eyes in deep thought, images of all the recent events flashing in her mind. Her heart sunk in hopelessness and fear as she recalled the painful strength of the QuasiMojo robots, the unbreakable grip the QuasiMojo empire would soon have over the city in their absence.

She gasped when she saw the image of the Professor imprisoned in Mojo Jojo's lair.

_Oh my God! _Bubbles thought, _What if they kill him!_

The Professor in her mind was hungry, weakened, sickly, near death. Painfully thin, heaving and coughing. She felt a single tear slip from her eye and fall into the breeze.

_How can we ever stop them?_

She opened her eyes and looked at herself reflected in the water as she skimmed across the glassy surface of the ocean; the girl that was staring back seemed emotionless.

_Look at you.. You're nothing but a weak, cowardly little girl. How can you possibly save the world? _

Bubbles' scolding inner voice was countered with a confident one, one that surprised Bubbles as it echoed in her mind. _How? Like all the other times you saved the world._

Bubbles smiled a little at the thought. Duh, she and her sisters had saved the world countless times, and none of them were ever easy. This was just another one of those times.

_Well, if the whole world is counting on me I'll try not to disappoint them,_ Bubbles thought to herself before speeding up and rocketing towards her destination, determined not to let her family down.

* * *

Thanks for reading 


	9. Chapter 8: Crawling in the Dark

Chapter 8: Crawling in the Dark

* * *

The first thing Brio noticed when he woke was a terrible headache, ringing in his ears and pounding hard at his skull. Before he even opened his eyes he was already grasping his throbbing head in pain, completely forgetting about any other injuries he already had.

He opened his eyes slowly, seeing nothing around him save for the blurry colors: black, gray, perhaps a tiny yellow sliver of light. As his eyes began to focus he found himself to be in a small dark room, gray metal covering the walls, floor and ceiling, and a small door on the other end. The door had no window, and the only way Brio knew it was a door was from the yellow light that leaked in around the edges.

He found himself lying, nearly paralyzed on the dusty floor. No bed, no table, nothing in the room. He simply lay there, not yet comprehending, only absorbing what his senses took in. No noise, no smell. Just the pitch black room and thin ray of light, the cold feeling of the rusty metal floor, the coppery taste of blood in his mouth and nausea lurching up his throat.

Then nothing.

_Where am I? _He thought to himself, still in too much pain to really remember what had happened.

He quieted his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching from outside. Suddenly, the door was thrown open with a noisy creaking sound, and a small figure appeared silhouetted in the bright yellow light. Brio groaned and shielded his sensitive eyes from the burning light, having been in the darkness too long.

The figure stepped forward, now visibly Mojo Jojo, and walked dangerously close the Brio's fallen form.

The old Brio could have easily jumped up and made quick work of beating up Mojo, but his body was so completely drained that he could barely think. To say that Brio is this drained is the same as saying he is nearly dead. Only several extremely powerful shocks from antidote X rays could achieve this kind of energy loss. Once by Quasi, again when rescuing the girls, and once again, point-blank by one of the droids. Being fueled purely by life energy, when so much of it has gone from Brio's body like this there is only so much time he has to live.

Mojo Jojo grinned and began speaking to Brio.

"I have some news that you might like," he said.

Brio closed his eyes, let out a long, painful sigh, then half opened one eye to signal he was mostly paying attention.

"And some you may not like," Mojo turned and faced towards the doorway.

Brio laid his head back again, not caring of anything more but sleep and easing the pain in his head.

"The good news is that your sisters got away,"Mojo said, a bitter tone in his voice.

"The bad news is, they fled. Out of radar, far away," He sneered as he looked back towards Brio, who appeared to be asleep until he opened one eye again, "But it doesn't matter. There's nothing they can do. In no time, my army of droids will cover the globe, and there's no place they can hide."

Brio closed his eyes again, sighed, and then attempted to stand. He fell to his knees and grunted, while Mojo continued speaking.

"We'll find them soon enough. We'll take their chemical X, and then we'll kill them."

Brio raised his icy gaze up towards Mojo, his glassy eyes now empty and colorless. He opened his mouth to say something, but all he could manage to do was mouth, "never."

Mojo grinned and continued.

"Next I'll kill the Professor, and then I'll kill you, Brio," he sneered, "and you know what the best part is?"

Brio's stare remained steadfast.

"Your sisters have deserted you, both you and the Professor. They've left you to die here. They've betrayed you both, like the weak cowards that they are. You can't save yourself, and they won't come to save you, because they'll be dead within twenty-four hours."

Brio closed his eyes again, too weak to say or do anything else, but inside he was snickering.

"So enjoy your last hours, Brio. Enjoy thinking about your worthless life, your pathetic sisters. But don't be too upset, the pain will be over very soon."

Brio fell back to the ground again, his thoughts still too cloudy to think straight. Mojo Jojo simply turned to leave without another word, and he slammed the door behind him, once again covering the room in a blanket of darkness.

* * *

Beautiful, tree-covered islands scattered the crystal blue Tyrrhenian sea. Blossom remembered from memorizing her many geography books that these were the Aeolian islands, and she must be close to the coast of Italy. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the cool, sea breeze as it washed over her face.

After a few minutes of these scattered Italian islands and blue waters she finally crossed over a sandy beach and onto the mainland. She looked wide-eyed down below, watching the beaches turn into beautiful landscapes and then into busy villages and cities. The small, red-roofed buildings separated by narrow, stone roads seemed endless within these flourishing towns.

She smiled as she watched the people walking along, working, going about their daily lives. Some gasped and pointed at the strange pink lightning bolt in the sky, but other than that, Blossom's presence did no harm.

She looked up and gaped at the lush, green forests and mountains that stretched across the horizon. She then glared and turned her attention once again towards her mission that was driving her to go deeper into the unknown.

She suddenly felt the urge to turn sharply to the right and fly alongside these mountains. She let her instincts take over, and in no time was flying among many more of these Italian cities, sandwiched between the coastline and the hills on the horizon.

For some inexplicable reason, her instincts seemed to draw her closer to the city of Pompeii on its own and towards her awaiting power. Miles and miles flew beneath her in a flash, and in no time she had reached a large, ancient, deserted city.

Blossom landed and walked throughout the dead city in awe, gazing in amazement at the giant Roman ruins. She stopped in the middle of what was once the forum, or gathering marketplace for the ancient civilization. She took in the astounding stone structures around her, some still standing triumphantly while others were partially collapsed.

She felt a sudden surge of power and twisted her head towards it quickly, eyes wide in fear. She found herself looking towards a majestic volcano, the only decoration on the empty horizon of this far removed city. Unlike the other mountains she had seen, this volcano was brown and muddy, surely a result of dried lava, ash, and dirt.

Blossom hovered in the air to get a better view, and in an instant she knew this was her destination. She scowled and shot in its direction without hesitation, that same invisible force pulling her there automatically.

She landed at the base of the mountain and began a rapid search for anything of interest. She slowly cycled higher and higher up on the volcano until she came across a small opening lined with polished stones about halfway up.

Blossom peered inside, and saw complete darkness save for a strange, faint red glow in the distance. Curiously enough the opening was small enough to fit her size exactly, hairbow and all. She looked in either direction before walking inside cautiously, unknowing of where she was headed, and what she was going to find.

* * *

Buttercup shivered and hugged herself as she flew further and further south. The temperature dropped rapidly by the second, but thanks to her superpowers she could withstand the frigid cold winds just as she is able to withstand the intense heat of lava.

She sighed in relief as she finally came across the white, icy and snow-covered land after miles of traveling over an empty blue sea. The blizzards blazed with forceful winds that stung her eyes as she flew, but nevertheless she continued southward, looking for a particular mountain in the middle of an icy wasteland.

_How on earth am I supposed to find this Mount Erebus place! Antarctica is massive.. It could be anywhere! _She shivered harder and grumbled to herself.

She stopped in midair, sighed and tried to calm down.

_Just..slow down. Think.. _She slowly looked around her in all directions, trying to decide which way she should start looking, because there was no other way for her to know besides simple trial and error.

She made a mental note of which way led to deeper inland and which way led to water, and closed her eyes in thought. She, like Blossom, completely let her instincts take over and pointed in the direction that her mind led her to. She began flying seemingly aimlessly, eyes still closed, letting her thoughts and instincts guide where she would go next.

_It's a shot in the dark... but that's what I'm looking for anyway.. _She laughed at her own stupid pun, and continued on from there, searching.

* * *


End file.
